30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Friday, February 27, 2015

Where's the beef?

If you were around in the 80's and owned a television set... then I'm sure you remember Clara Peller and her Wendy's "Where's the beef?" commercial. It's just one of those things from my childhood that'll be stored in my brain until I take my last breathe. And it's the first thing that popped into my head when I realized that a bunch of my 2015 Topps Ar•che•typesinserts were missing the silver foil on the front:

The standard inserts have the player's name and the word "ar•che•types" stamped in silver foil across the bottom like this:

In fact more than half of the "ar•che•types" inserts I found in my flea market finds purchase were missing the silver foil, so I decided to do a little research on the issue. What I discovered is that more than a handful have made their way into packs of 2015 Topps.

On eBayseveral auctions have closed and completed sales have ranged from $1.99 (for Giancarlo Stanton) to $42.00 (for Mike Trout). Unfortunately, they're not quite as popular as the "no name" 1990 Topps Frank Thomasrookie cards:

But at the same time... they're currently fetching a premium over the non-error versions. Anyways... I figured I'd throw my line into the water and see if I can snag any offers on my this seven card lot:

Worst case scenario... my baseball insert binders will always be willing to give the Trout, Ripken, Ryan, McGwire, and Aaron a loving home. And since Cespedes is a former Athletics fan favorite... he'll probably stick around as well.As for the Puig... if he pans out and becomes the star everyone predicts he'll be... then maybe this will be the insert card that kicks off my Yasiel Puigpage in my binder.Okay. It's your turn to chime in...

Do you have any commercials that will forever be trapped in your head?

If you're a player collector, does a non-foil error card have a place in your collection?

Am I a greedy scumbag for trying to make a profit on these?

Lol... don't worry you won't hurt my feelings if you say "yes" to the third question. There's just something about my eBay listing that makes me feel uncomfortable. It's kinda like selling cards of an athlete the same day he/she passes away.

You guys are kind of my conscience. If enough of you feel it's "wrong", then I'll take the listing down and add the cards to my collection. Won't be a huge loss since I've always been fascinated with "error" cards.

1. I remember that Wendy's commercial like it was yesterday. I think the other ones that stand out to me are the Budweiser frogs commercials.2. Yes, I'd add cards like this to my collection, but I also wouldn't pay a premium.3. No, try to make what you can from them. In fact, you might consider breaking them up, you'd probably end up with more from them that way.

1. I'll always have John Moschita, the Micro-Machines/FedEx fast talker ads in my head because I later became a high school debater who could talk faster and clearer (hopefully) than Moschita ever could! :-)2. Sure, I'd buy it as a separate card. I'd pay a premium only if I didn't know any better.3. Greedy? Nope. Unless you're selling them for the error and would collect them otherwise. Perhaps sell off the ones you don't have PCs for?

1) No Matter What Shape Your Stomach is in from Alka Seltzer in the 60'shttps://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=ytff1-gl-gen1&p=alka%20seltzer%20commercials%20from%20the%2060%27s&type=2) Definitely a keeper3) You should not sell them !! Take them off ebay, send them to me and I will sell them !! By all means.......sell!

1. For me, it is a different Wendy's commercial. I've been told I once sang this while in line at McDonald's, much to the chagrin of my horrified mother. Memories... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-h6f2w70RY2. It really would depend on what the parallel was going for. If I could turn a simple foil-less card into something much nicer for my collection, I'd sell it in a heartbeat. 3. Nope.

1. This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs.2. Yes, but more oddball appeal at a cheap price. 3. Sell, sell, sell. That said, I suspect listing individually will get you significantly more as likely to hit a player collector. And you've got some guys that are popular in those regards.

1. Clara's voice is definitely caught up in my brain and for some reason the "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz" Alka-Seltzer commercials.2. I do pick up error cards and missing names and foil are a nice addition for a reasonable price.3. I am a firm believer that if you don't collect the player and you can make some money so you can purchase cards that you want then go for it and sell them.

1. Go way back to the 70's and "I can't believe I ate the whoooole thing." Or "it better be there by 10:30, Dick!", and "You can call me Ray, or you can call me Jay, or you can call me RJ,..."2. If I ran across something, I would put it in my binders, but wouldn't seek them out very hard.3. I've got some foil-lies 2011s I think that I should have put up too. There are collectors for these kind of printing errors. They don't usually bring much, but someone out there wants them. And don't break them up - that is the profiteering approach. There are very often groups of cards on eBay that I'd buy as a lot at a few bucks, but not individually for a dollar each and ten times the shipping...

About Me

I've been collecting cardboard off and on since the early 80's. I'm presently collecting. But who knows what the future holds in store for me.
One thing is for certain... I'll have my blog to help relive some of my favorite hobby moments.